Pleying, an American startup founded by dad and former investment banker Ranan Lachman, has raised $6.75 million in venture funding to expand the business. The company rents out Lego sets for $15 to $39 U.S. and sanitizes sets in its San Jose warehouse inbetween rentals.

Consumers are increasingly favouring “accessing” goods through firms such as Netflix and Zipcar vehicles versus owning them, according to ...

]]>Who knew that simply sharing toys could be worth $6.75 million?

Pleying, an American startup founded by dad and former investment banker Ranan Lachman, has raised $6.75 million in venture funding to expand the business. The company rents out Lego sets for $15 to $39 U.S. and sanitizes sets in its San Jose warehouse inbetween rentals.

Consumers are increasingly favouring “accessing” goods through firms such as Netflix and Zipcar vehicles versus owning them, according to a Wall Street Journal story.

He has been branded a fugitive for his efforts and is currently holed up in Russia, where his image was beamed in via a video link to a packed conference room at SXSW in Austin, Texas on Monday.

It was one of his first public appearances since he released ...

]]>

Edward Snowden was live vie a video link at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas Monday.

The Internet is a more secure place today because of Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA spying operations in the U.S. and around the globe last June.

He has been branded a fugitive for his efforts and is currently holed up in Russia, where his image was beamed in via a video link to a packed conference room at SXSW in Austin, Texas on Monday.

It was one of his first public appearances since he released thousands of classified documents collected by the National Security Agency (NSA) that detailed the U.S. government’s mass surveillance strategies.

“Regardless of what happens to me… I took an oath to support and defend the [U.S.] constitution and I say the constitution was violated,” said Snowden. “That is something the public ought to know.”

NSA’s practices of mass data collection exposed vulnerabilities within data security in the U.S. It also revealed an NSA agenda that wasn’t focused on securing U.S. from cyber attacks but rather exploiting well-known holes in the system to peer into the lives of millions of ordinary citizens in the U.S. and abroad.

“So much of our country’s success is based on our intellectual property,” said Snowden. “America has more to lose than anyone else… it doesn’t make sense to be attacking rather than defending.”
That sentiment was echoed by Chris Soghoian of the American Civil Liberties Union.

“As a country, we have officials who say cyber security is a national threat,” he said during the panel discussion with Snowden. “But what should be clear is this government is not doing this to keep us secure and safe. They are geared toward offence.”

Also speaking at SXSW, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Barton Gellman, who flew to Russia to interview Snowden for the Washington Post, lauded Snowden’s efforts, which revealed how complicit industry has been in providing an open tap to unsecured data.

“Right now we are living inside a one-way mirror. More and more, government and large corporations know more about us than we know about them,” he said, explaining Snowden’s actions shed “light on a crucial decisions that society ought to make for itself?”

Soghoian emphasized the practice of mass data collection by the NSA was feasible due to loose security measures implemented by the world’s leading Internet companies.

“Without Edward’s disclosures, the tech companies would not do what they are doing. You see Google, Microsoft and Facebook rushing to encryption.”

However, the data people send through Google and Facebook is still far from secure.

“In the last eight months the silicon valley tech companies have really improved their security,” said Soghoian. “The companies have locked things down but only in a certain way, which means the government has to go through Google, Facebook. These companies should have been encrypting their data before and they weren’t.”

By encrypting data, Internet companies make it more difficult for government agencies to run mass surveillance operations. It becomes a question of economics.

“Encryption makes bulk surveillance too expensive,” said Soghoian. “Right now, so many of our e-mail, our telephone conversations are right there to be taken. So encryption, even if imperfect, makes it too expensive for the government to spy on everyone.”

However, that doesn’t mean they can’t.
“If the government really wants to get into your computer they will find away,” said Soghoian. “If you are a target of the NSA, it’s going to be game over – no matter what.”

Snowden took his stand to stop the violation of privacy and to shed light on how the government was interpreting and analyzing the data it collected.

“Government have the ability to deprive you of your rights,” he said. “Companies can surveil you and sell your [data] and that can be bad, but there are limits.

“[NSA] set a fire to the global internet. You folks in the room now are all the firefighters.”

Filed under: Innovation, STAFF Tagged: Snowden, SXSW]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/03/10/edward-snowden-talks-nsa-operations-and-internet-security/feed/0dbroughton1Edward Snowden was live vie a video link at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas Monday. SXSW: Instagramming the Newshttp://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/03/09/sxsw-instagramming-the-news/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/03/09/sxsw-instagramming-the-news/#commentsMon, 10 Mar 2014 00:29:04 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=147866A photographer needs a community as much as a community needs a photographer.
That was a realization AP photojournalist David Guttenfelder shared at the Instagramming the News panel in the Austin Convention Centre at SXSW Sunday afternoon.
Guttenfelder is the only independent set of eyes to see images in what is one of the most alienated nations on the planet, North Korea.
And while he files daily to AP and Time, his influence is spreading ...]]>A photographer needs a community as much as a community needs a photographer.
That was a realization AP photojournalist David Guttenfelder shared at the Instagramming the News panel in the Austin Convention Centre at SXSW Sunday afternoon.
Guttenfelder is the only independent set of eyes to see images in what is one of the most alienated nations on the planet, North Korea.
And while he files daily to AP and Time, his influence is spreading at an exponential rate on Instagram.
With a mere 100 Instagram followers a year ago, Guttenfelder’s personal fan club now tops 300,000.
“I had a 100 followers and I thought ‘this is fun, my mom is enjoying it,” he joked.
“Then all of a sudden you have 40,000 people following you. It’s purpose changed really fast.”
That is a community that has direct access to him and provides instant feedback – both positive and negative – that he heeds.
“It’s something I haven’t experienced before, which is about community,” he said. “I didn’t want to be left out of the conversation. I want to be part of the conversation.
“The photographers I admired the most were not participating in this place when I started. I want news photographers to guide this so we can make the most of it.”
It’s part of the paradigm shift in news gathering that Kira Pollack has witnessed.
As Time’s director of photography, she has embraced the shifting publishing landscape and has gone so far as to surrender Time’s Instragram feed to photographers in five different communities during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
That was a pivotal moment in social media photography and the story unfolded faster on Instragram than any other news outlet.
“It was so interesting to tell that story in real time,” she said at the panel. “The feed for Time is so precious. I don’t think this works all the time… it has to be the right thing… the right photographers.”
Aside from being on the cutting edge of journalism that day, Time also boosted its social status, adding 12,500 followers almost overnight.
“We are expanding our audience through Instragram.”
That’s all part of the plan, explained Dan Toffey, community manager of Instagram
“Our job is to tell the story of the Instragram community all over the world,” Toffey told the crowd. “There is a lot of lighter stuff [but] then there a lot of things out there that are important and relevant to what is happening in the world.”
He pointed to the work of @syriandeveloper, a rebel fighter who is covering the chaos in Syria.
“He will take photo after photo of rubble and then he will take a picture of a cat. It’s jarring to see… life goes on,” he said.
Pollack shared some best practices Time has adopted.
She pointed to the photo of Daft Punk Time shot months before the Grammys and posted the night of the French duo’s big win. It went viral collecting more than 25,000 shares.
“It’s about hitting those sweet spots when it’s in the conversation,” she said, noting
Time also fills its Instagram feed with its feature photo of the week and republishes archival images with relevant news events.
Panelists:
@dguttenfelder Associate Press chief Asia Photographer
@dantoffey Community of Instagram
@kirapollack TIME director of photographyFiled under: Innovation, STAFF Tagged: AP, Breaking News, Instagram, photography, social media, SXSW, SXSW interactive, time]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/03/09/sxsw-instagramming-the-news/feed/0Instagramming the Newsdbroughton1Paper, the “original wireless communications platform”http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2013/03/14/paper-the-original-wireless-comminications-platform/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2013/03/14/paper-the-original-wireless-comminications-platform/#commentsThu, 14 Mar 2013 22:47:00 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=113233Canadian papermaker Domtar has been mounting a clever ad campaign they call PAPERbecause to remind people of the role paper plays in our lives, and has for the last 2,000 years. They have developed a series of video ads they plan on running this month on the New York Times and National Georgraphic webpages, but this time, they took it a step higher – going directly to digital crowd by attending one of the top ...]]>Canadian papermaker Domtar has been mounting a clever ad campaign they call PAPERbecause to remind people of the role paper plays in our lives, and has for the last 2,000 years. They have developed a series of video ads they plan on running this month on the New York Times and National Georgraphic webpages, but this time, they took it a step higher – going directly to digital crowd by attending one of the top interactive trade shows in North America, the South by SouthWest Interactive Festival.

They billed paper as “the original wireless communications platform” and instead of a booth, they created a lounge, complete with sofas, rug and fireplace, where people could relax and re-aquaint themselves with paper. Here’s their video of the event, which I loved watching, and a link to some of their other humorous PAPERbecause video clips:

Filed under: Innovation]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2013/03/14/paper-the-original-wireless-comminications-platform/feed/0gordhamiltonBC Hydro’s private power purchases cost $180 million this spring, NDP sayshttp://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/17/bc-hydros-private-power-purchases-cost-180-million-this-spring-ndp-says/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/17/bc-hydros-private-power-purchases-cost-180-million-this-spring-ndp-says/#commentsThu, 17 May 2012 22:12:28 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=78814British Columbia New Democratic Party energy critic says expensive contracts with independent power producers will cost BC Hydro $180 million this spring at a time when open market electricity in the Pacific Northwest would cost only a fraction of that amount.

The issue came up Thursday in Question Period in the Legislature for the second time since a Vancouver Sun report last week that many Hydro generating stations were shut down, due to a glut ...

]]>British Columbia New Democratic Party energy critic says expensive contracts with independent power producers will cost BC Hydro $180 million this spring at a time when open market electricity in the Pacific Northwest would cost only a fraction of that amount.

The issue came up Thursday in Question Period in the Legislature for the second time since a Vancouver Sun report last week that many Hydro generating stations were shut down, due to a glut of power arising from greater than usual snow and rainfall last winter in many parts of the Pacific Northwest, while B.C. IPPs on long term contracts with Hydro were running flat out.

Here’s the NDP’s news release on the subject.

May 17, 2012

B.C. Hydro losing $180 million to private power contracts this spring

VICTORIA – B.C. Liberal energy policies that forced B.C. Hydro to sign lucrative contracts with private-sector power producers will result in losses of $180 million during the spring melt season, says New Democrat energy critic John Horgan.

Horgan highlighted a submission from B.C. Hydro to the B.C. Utilities Commission outlining the cost of independent power production compared to the value of the electricity on the open market.

“These documents lay out in black and white what the opposition and others concerned with the Liberals’ private power agenda have been saying for years. The contracts the Liberals sought with IPPs are expensive, unnecessary, and outrageous,” said Horgan.

The document shows B.C. Hydro will purchase 802 GWh in April 2012, 1,018 GWh in May, and 1,087 GWh in June from IPPs at an average cost of about $68/MWh. During the same three-month period, the average price to purchase power on the open market is approximately $10.

“We’re buying at $68 when the electricity is only worth $10. With the massive volume of electricity we’re buying at those prices, it adds up to about $180 million that B.C. Hydro is overpaying in just a three month period” said Horgan.

With the massive volume of electricity we’re buying at those prices, it adds up to about $180 million that B.C. Hydro is overpaying in just a three month period” said Horgan.

Horgan raised the issue in question period Thursday while continuing to draw attention to the fact that on May 9, B.C. Hydro had to spill water over the publicly owned Peace Canyon dam because there was a glut of electricity in the system.

“B.C. Hydro had no choice but to spill more than 800 million cubic feet of water over the dam because they had to fulfill the contracts with private producers.

“This is exactly the situation Adrian Dix and B.C.’s New Democrats have been raising for many years. The Liberals are putting their friends’ business interests ahead of the public interest. The result is rate increases of 36 per cent over five years, with more to come,” said Horgan.

Adrian Dix and B.C.’s New Democrats are committed to restoring the regulatory role of the B.C. Utilities Commission, putting a moratorium on signing any further independent power contracts, and reviewing existing contracts to determine whether they are in the public interest.

Filed under: Innovation]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/17/bc-hydros-private-power-purchases-cost-180-million-this-spring-ndp-says/feed/0ssimpsunVancouver’s GrowLab tech accelerator announces 2012 cohorthttp://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/16/vancouvers-growlab-tech-accelerator-announces-2012-cohort/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/16/vancouvers-growlab-tech-accelerator-announces-2012-cohort/#commentsWed, 16 May 2012 20:39:00 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=78553 Vancouver tech accelerator GrowLab today announced the five companies it has chosen for its 2012 program which opens June 1.

GrowLab executive director Mike Edwards said in an interview this week that the program screened “thousands” of companies across Canada, Europe, Asia and the United States before choosing this year’s cohort.

The companies all focus on the fast growing digital economy, including entertainmment, food, gaming, advertising and shopping.

Here’s the roster passed along today by ...

]]> Vancouver tech accelerator GrowLab today announced the five companies it has chosen for its 2012 program which opens June 1.

GrowLab executive director Mike Edwards said in an interview this week that the program screened “thousands” of companies across Canada, Europe, Asia and the United States before choosing this year’s cohort.

The companies all focus on the fast growing digital economy, including entertainmment, food, gaming, advertising and shopping.

Here’s the roster passed along today by GrowLab, accompanied by a brief descriptive “pitch” from each company.

Disrupting how feature films have been created, financed and distributed since 1878, Cinecoup is getting ready to announce their arrival within the industry and are being very secretive about what is up their sleeve.BlueBat Games

Innovators of BlueBox, the engine driving game developers to social success. With a deep understanding of the social space atmosphere, BlueBat sensed the growing popularity of social games on social platforms and quickly sought to find an effective yet simple solution for game developers.

The BlueBox engine is key to any development cycle as it allows BlueBat, and many other developers, to focus on creative, high quality, high performance work.

Meals delivered to your office. Food.ee simplifies group ordering of delivery food for offices by aggregating menus, allowing pre-scheduling, offering savings and customer rewards. Food.ee is a new product from Invoke Media, the maker of HootSuite.Skyscrpr

The easiest way for bloggers to sell ads directly to advertisers. Skyscrpr is the easiest way for bloggers to sell ads directly to advertisers.

Bloggers can create new ad inventory in seconds with our drag-and-drop interface and get a quick snapshot of their ad sales with our real-time visual dashboard. Advertisers can then buy ad placements directly on the blog through our automated media kits.

Wantering lets you find and buy the latest trends from fashion blogs and curation platforms. Our system finds the hottest products from across the web and mashes them up with high quality user-generated photos to create a fun, fast, and addictive shopping experience. Through Wantering, you can visually browse thousands of the top items from your favourite stores, save your finds for later, and share them with friends.

Filed under: Innovation]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/16/vancouvers-growlab-tech-accelerator-announces-2012-cohort/feed/0ssimpsunBC mining sector worried about PST hithttp://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/15/bc-mining-sector-worried-about-pst-hit/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/15/bc-mining-sector-worried-about-pst-hit/#commentsTue, 15 May 2012 21:41:17 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=78418British Columbia’s booming mining industry is bracing for rising costs including higher electricity prices when the province’s tax regime reverts next year to PST, PricewaterhouseCoopers said Tuesday.
According to PwC’s annual mining survey, the industry collected record gross revenues of $9.9. billion in 2011 – a $2 billion jump from 2010 – thanks to higher world commodity prices in particular for coal, silver and lead.
But the revival of a series of Provincial Sales Tax ...]]>British Columbia’s booming mining industry is bracing for rising costs including higher electricity prices when the province’s tax regime reverts next year to PST, PricewaterhouseCoopers said Tuesday.
According to PwC’s annual mining survey, the industry collected record gross revenues of $9.9. billion in 2011 – a $2 billion jump from 2010 – thanks to higher world commodity prices in particular for coal, silver and lead.
But the revival of a series of Provincial Sales Tax charges — eliminated two years ago with a shift to Ottawa’s Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) — reintroduces a series of tax rules that are considered complex, confusing and unfair.
PST exemptions for the mining industry, taking effect April 2013 when the provinces abandons the HST, will likely include exemptions for equipment involved in mineral exploration and mining.
But PwC says “various” other expenses will take a PST hit.
For example, mine operators won’t be able to recover tax paid on electricity and other energy such as fuel – two of the sector’s largest input costs.
PST on tires and propane will be reinstated as well.
In the past, mine operators have complained about peculiar tax items that puzzle foreign investors ­— such as PST on road grading in front of a mine office, using vehicles from the mine itself to perform the work.
“In summary, the result of returning to the PST will likely result in an overall increased cost to operating in B.C. for the mining industry,” PwC report authors Michael Cinnamond and Marianne Carroll state.Filed under: Innovation]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/15/bc-mining-sector-worried-about-pst-hit/feed/0ssimpsunBC mining gross revenues jumped $2 billion in 2011http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/15/bc-mining-gross-revenues-jumped-2-billion-in-2011/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/15/bc-mining-gross-revenues-jumped-2-billion-in-2011/#commentsTue, 15 May 2012 18:52:49 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=78397British Columbia’s mining industry generated record gross revenue of nearly $10 billion in 2011, PricewaterhouseCoopers reported on Tuesday.

PwC’s annual survey of the industry, released as part of Mining Week in B.C., found that revenues jumped $2 billion compared to 2010 en route to a “historic high.”

Metallurgical coal was the main driver, with shipments up 10 per cent and prices up 42 per cent.

PwC’s annual survey of the industry, released as part of Mining Week in B.C., found that revenues jumped $2 billion compared to 2010 en route to a “historic high.”

Metallurgical coal was the main driver, with shipments up 10 per cent and prices up 42 per cent.

Coal is B.C.’s biggest mineral commodity by volume, accounted for 59 per cent of total net revenues. Last year 24.5 billion tones were shipped at an average price of $257 US per tonne compared with $181 in 2010 and $157 in 2009.

Silver and lead volumes and price increases were also substantial. Net earnings in the sector were about the same as 2010, at $3.7 billion, while cash flow jumped 40 per cent to $4 billion.

“The record results posted by the B.C. mining sector were in spite of a strengthening Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar, which works against the industry,” PwC manager and survey co-author Marianne Carroll said in a news release.

Carroll noted that the U.S. dollar averaged more than a cent lower against Canadian currency compared to 2010. “PwC estimates this wiped $409 million from total revenues earned in 2011.”

PwC’s B.C. mining practice leader Michael Cinnamond described 2011 as a “watermark year” for the sector.

Filed under: Innovation]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/15/bc-mining-gross-revenues-jumped-2-billion-in-2011/feed/0ssimpsunBC Hydro power purchases under microscope in British Columbia legislaturehttp://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/14/bc-hydro-power-purchases-under-microscope-in-british-columbia-legislature/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/14/bc-hydro-power-purchases-under-microscope-in-british-columbia-legislature/#commentsMon, 14 May 2012 22:41:42 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=78276There was a lively exchange in the British Columbia legislature Monday as the New Democrats hammered the governing Liberals over the cost of power purchases by BC Hydro amid some of the lowest trading market prices for power, ever.

]]>There was a lively exchange in the British Columbia legislature Monday as the New Democrats hammered the governing Liberals over the cost of power purchases by BC Hydro amid some of the lowest trading market prices for power, ever.

A. Dix: My question is to the Minister of Energy. The government’s energy policy has stripped away B.C. Hydro’s ability to capitalize on the high water flow as we’re experiencing this spring. As a result, our public utilities are being forced, as a result of the government policy, to pay massively inflated rates for power.

Would the Minister of Energy acknowledge that the government’s energy plan and the government’s energy policies are going to cost taxpayers dramatically now and in the next few years?

Hon. R. Coleman: No, I won’t acknowledge that, hon. Member.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a supplemental.
A. Dix: Well, the minister . . . . You know, maybe in a 1970s British sitcom it makes sense to buy power at $60 to $100 and sell it at 20 cents to $17.60, but it certainly doesn’t make sense for the people of British Columbia. The government’s policies are costing taxpayers — according to Marvin Schaffer, $1.28 billion over the next four years. That’s the cost of them overpaying for power.

Can the minister at least explain, can he suggest, or can he confirm one way or another, whether B.C. Hydro will be spilling power over the dams, spilling water over the dams, without generating electricity?

Hon. R. Coleman: You know, there are year-over-year fluctuations of water. I know that he isn’t aware of that maybe, necessarily, or knows that sometimes it affects one year versus another.

But we have companies sitting poised to invest tens of billions of dollars in British Columbia for liquified natural gas. One of the advantages they see in British Columbia to make that investment is clean energy. They actually see it as them been able to have a market-competitive situation worldwide by being able to say to their customers: “Liquified natural gas in British Columbia is produced with clean energy.”

Now, I know the members opposite don’t like that sound because that means they might want to have to support new hydroelectric power, run of the river, wind and other clean sources of power, in order for us to continue to have that advantage as we pursue this huge opportunity of tens of thousands of jobs for the future of British Columbians.
Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental.

A. Dix: A 36 per cent rate increase over four years. Hon. Speaker, it’s impossible to understand the government’s argument that it makes our economy more efficient to overpay dramatically for power. That’s their argument. That’s what the minister says: it’s more efficient to buy high and sell low. That’s his argument.

It’s the consumers of British Columbia and the businesses of British Columbia that are going to pay a price for this argument for years to come. Will the minister not admit . . . ? He didn’t answer the question the first time; he didn’t answer the question the second time. Will he at least tell us — because this would be information of interest to the people of B.C — is B.C. Hydro spilling water without generating electricity?

Hon. R. Coleman: I know the opposition leader just wants to talk about one little piece of the microcosm other than the huge piece of information around power in British Columbia. You know, we actually support things like bioenergy, which is actually more expensive to do, the reason being that we know in British Columbia there’s going to be a river of wood that may not be able go through woods because of the pine beetle epidemic.

We think we should have those options in front of us for the value to the whole supply chain of power for British Columbians in the future. That includes looking at all aspects of power to make sure that we’re striking a balance and making sure we get the right investments to use the resources in British Columbia in the best way possible.

J. Horgan: It is surprising to hear a minister of energy in British Columbia say that by focusing on the 90 per cent of hydroelectricity that B.C. Hydro produces, that’s just one small component of the puzzle. That seems odd to me, Hon. Speaker.

But rather than deflect, perhaps the minister could focus his mind on the prices today. The mid-Columbia price for average peak power today: 20 cents a megawatt hour. That’s 20 cents a megawatt off-peak, and it soars to $17.60 at peak. Now, contrast that to the average price of independent power that B.C. Hydro is paying today. It’s between $60 and $100 a megawatt hour.

Now, that may be just a small part of the puzzle to the Minister of Energy, but I’m fairly confident the Minister of Finance understands what the discrepancy would be between $17 and $60 or $100. My question is to the minister. Can he quantify just how much the B.C. Liberals have blown on IPPs rather than focusing on keeping rates down for British Columbians and having a strong power sector so that we can generally grow the economy, not just the friends of the B.C. Liberal Party.

Hon. R. Coleman: To the member opposite, the fact of the matter is in peak water years you do have situations in the fluctuation of power. He knows that; I know that. What he doesn’t want to talk about is what was happening a few years back when the peaks were spiking totally the other direction when we had an energy crisis in the United States, when people were looking at power prices that were astronomical. We had brownouts across areas of the Pacific, of California and other states.

We made decisions to try and build the future for B.C. Hydro in the proper way at that time, and we’ll continue to build the future of B.C. Hydro in the proper manner. We know that we’ve made decisions like site C that the members don’t like. Frankly, if you read the quotes it’s: “Today I like it; tomorrow I’m not sure I’ll like it.” Maybe they will at least tell us what they think about a new hydroelectric dam in the Peace country, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

J. Horgan: I do, hon. Speaker, but before I launch into that maybe I’ll just correct the minister’s memory. It was 12 years ago, and we were selling for $1,200 a megawatt hour, not buying at $100 a megawatt. We were making money for the people of British Columbia. In fact, the good people of California still owe us $300 million.

It was a good policy then; it should be a good policy today. But unfortunately, instead we have $2.2 billion in deferral accounts rising to $5 billion by 2017, with $45 billion to $60 billion in unfunded contractual obligations, $1.3 billion on self-sufficiency, and let’s not forget $1 billion on smart meters.

The B.C. Liberal . . . .
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
J. Horgan: . . . energy plan has been a catastrophe from the get-go. Will the minister have the decency to stand in this place and tell B.C. taxpayers just how much they’re going to cost before we get to an election next may?

Hon. R. Coleman: Well, I would tell the member not to tilt at windmills, but then he doesn’t support wind power in places like the Hecate Strait or Bankside or anywhere else in British Columbia. He doesn’t support other forms of green power, and new forms of power are more expensive than the dams that were built back in the 1950s and ’60s.
Ironically, they actually get up and talk about the rates of hydro. What they don’t tell you is this: they made no significant capital investment in the structure of B.C. Hydro in the 1990s. So today we have a $1.2 billion upgrade that has to take care of the John Hart dam, an $800 million project at the Ruskin dam.

Filed under: Innovation, STAFF]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/14/bc-hydro-power-purchases-under-microscope-in-british-columbia-legislature/feed/0ssimpsunHedge fund involvement good for bankrupt U.S. companies, Sauder researcher findshttp://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/07/hedge-fund-involvement-good-for-bankrupt-u-s-companies-sauder-researcher-finds/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/07/hedge-fund-involvement-good-for-bankrupt-u-s-companies-sauder-researcher-finds/#commentsMon, 07 May 2012 16:32:28 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=77104Far from their reputation as vulture investors, hedge funds have a positive influence when investing in U.S. companies filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a new study from a University of British Columbia researcher indicates.
The study, co-authored by Sauder School of Businessfinance professor Kai Li, determined that when a hedge fund invests in a distressed company, other creditors in the transaction fare better and there is a greater chance a company will emerge ...]]>Far from their reputation as vulture investors, hedge funds have a positive influence when investing in U.S. companies filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a new study from a University of British Columbia researcher indicates.
The study, co-authored by Sauder School of Businessfinance professor Kai Li, determined that when a hedge fund invests in a distressed company, other creditors in the transaction fare better and there is a greater chance a company will emerge from bankruptcy, UBC reported today in a news release.
“It’s a common view in the media and popular opinion that hedge funds are ‘vulture investors’ who dismantle companies to maximizing profits in the shortest time-frame possible,” Li said in the release. She co-wrote the study for the April edition of the Journal of Finance with professors from Columbia and Queens Universities.
Here’s the rest of the release.
“We found the opposite is true. Our data show that hedge funds strategically invest in troubled companies with the intention of becoming major shareholders after they emerge from bankruptcy. They are motivated to strengthen firms, not tear them apart.”
Unlike mutual funds and pension funds, which have very stringent requirements on the types of companies they invest in, hedge funds are free to take on the risk of investing in companies in Chapter 11.
Li and her co-authors conclude that this flexibility allows them to make strategic investments in failing companies that exhibit the potential for recovery. They also argue that hedge funds are much more likely to wait while companies successfully restructure under new management than other private investors.
The researchers analyzed 474 Chapter 11 filings in the United States between 1996 and 2007. Looking at firms with assets worth more than $100 million, the researchers examined bankruptcy filings from a wide variety of angles, including the presence of hedge fund investment, CEO turnover, key employee retention, asset liquidation, debt recovery and emergence.
They found that 87 per cent of these bankruptcies had observable hedge fund involvement. The data shows such companies had improved chances of surviving the bankruptcy process. The results also reveal that the presence of hedge funds increased the likelihood of failed CEOs being fired and reduced the liquidation pressure from other stakeholders clamouring for a payout.
“We find that hedge funds are more like mediators than predators,” says Li. “They use the power of a controlling stake to negotiate between the desires of top executives fighting to preserve their high salaries, and the company’s lenders who may want to cut their losses by dismantling the company and selling off the pieces.”
The researchers also found that the presence of hedge funds as the largest unsecured creditors had a favourable effect on stock price, and positive influence on the overall debt recovery for other lenders. Finally, where hedge funds were involved, companies had a reduction in leveraged debt one year after emergence from bankruptcy.
“Until now, hedge funds have been wrongly classified,” says Li. “Instead of vultures, circling overhead above a dying prey, it is better to see them as guardian angels of distressed companies, overseeing their transition into healthier entities.”Filed under: Innovation]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/07/hedge-fund-involvement-good-for-bankrupt-u-s-companies-sauder-researcher-finds/feed/0ssimpsunGlass Lewis reiterates support for Telus share conversionhttp://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/04/30/glass-lewis-reiterates-support-for-telus-share-conversion/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/04/30/glass-lewis-reiterates-support-for-telus-share-conversion/#commentsMon, 30 Apr 2012 18:17:43 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=75741Proxy advisory firm Glass, Lewis & Co. is staying with its original recommendation favoring a move by Telus to eliminate the Vancouver-based telecom’s dual class share structure.
Glass Lewis recommended the move to its institutional clients on April 23, but withdrew the report a day later while it considered objections from a New York hedge fund, Mason Capital.
Telus is proposing a one-for-one share conversion to extend voting rights to both shareholder classes by creating ...]]>Proxy advisory firm Glass, Lewis & Co. is staying with its original recommendation favoring a move by Telus to eliminate the Vancouver-based telecom’s dual class share structure.
Glass Lewis recommended the move to its institutional clients on April 23, but withdrew the report a day later while it considered objections from a New York hedge fund, Mason Capital.
Telus is proposing a one-for-one share conversion to extend voting rights to both shareholder classes by creating one single share class, “enhancing the liquidity and marketability of the common shares, including through a listing of the common shares on the NYSE for the first time.”
Telus has 175 million common shares and 150 million non-voting shares outstanding, with the proposal creating 325 million common shares outstanding.
It’s expected that the matter will be concluded at the Telus annual general meeting next week in Calgary.
Mason Capital is expected to oppose it – but they’re likely to be outvoted. The other leading proxy advisory firm, Institutional Shareholders Services, also supports Telus’ plan.
Telus said that in its updated report In its updated report, Glass Lewis writes: “Mason has stated that it would ‘favourably consider a revised proposal that pays an appropriate premium,’ however, it has given no indication or analysis regarding the specifics of such a proposal.
“We consider Mason’s failure to provide an agreeable conversion ratio to be another indicator of its short-term interests in the Company, as Mason appears to prioritize the cessation of any share conversion over the realization of a more appropriate premium.
“We are also particularly troubled by the brief period in which Mason has been invested in the Company as well as its outstanding short position which, in our opinion, call into question the Dissident’s motives for opposing the conversion.”Filed under: Innovation]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/04/30/glass-lewis-reiterates-support-for-telus-share-conversion/feed/0ssimpsunTelemarketers will be levied cost of CRTC program enforcementhttp://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/04/30/telemarketers-will-be-levied-cost-of-crtc-program-enforcement/
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/04/30/telemarketers-will-be-levied-cost-of-crtc-program-enforcement/#commentsMon, 30 Apr 2012 17:08:17 +0000http://blogs.vancouversun.com/?p=75702Telemarketers will be obliged to finance investigation and enforcement costs associated with their industry in Canada.
The federal government announced Monday that it’s beefing up National Do Not Call regulations which are intended to bar telemarketers from making calls to consumers who don’t want them.
“Currently, the operation of the National Do Not Call List is fully funded by telemarketers, while investigation and enforcement costs are funded by the government,” according to a news release ...]]>Telemarketers will be obliged to finance investigation and enforcement costs associated with their industry in Canada.
The federal government announced Monday that it’s beefing up National Do Not Call regulations which are intended to bar telemarketers from making calls to consumers who don’t want them.
“Currently, the operation of the National Do Not Call List is fully funded by telemarketers, while investigation and enforcement costs are funded by the government,” according to a news release from the office of Industry Minister Christian Paradis.
The release said a new act introduced last week in the House of Commons would allow the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to recover the cost of Do Not Call List investigations and enforcement from the telemarketing industry.
“Amendments to the Telecommunications Act, subject to approval by Parliament, would permit the CRTC to establish fees for this purpose. The CRTC will hold consultations this summer on the fee structure, which will be implemented on April 1, 2013.”
The National Do Not Call List was established in 2008. Telemarketers are prohibited from calling consumers who registered on the list – although some large Canadian companies have ignored it and been hit with fines as a result, while some other marketers use calling services based in other countries to circumvent it.Filed under: Innovation]]>http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/04/30/telemarketers-will-be-levied-cost-of-crtc-program-enforcement/feed/0ssimpsun